Shyqyri Rreli (18 May 1930 – 31 December 2019) was an

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who spent the majority of his career with

Dinamo Tirana Futboll Club Dinamo Tirana is an Albanian professional football club based in the country's capital Tirana. They play in the Kategoria e Parë, the second tier of Albanian football, in the 2022–23 season. Founded in 1950 during the communist r ...

, having previously played for

KF Erzeni Klubi Futbollit Erzeni Shijak is an Albanian football club based in Shijak. They currently compete in the Kategoria Superiore, which is the first tier of Albanian football, and they play their home games at the Tefik Jashari Stadium. History F ...

and Puna Tirana, which is the modern day

KF Tirana Klubi i Futbollit Tirana (KF Tirana) is an Albanian football club based in the country's capital city, Tirana. The men's football club is part of the multi-disciplinary sports club SK Tirana, and is the most successful in Albania, having won 54 ...

. As a coach, he was most noted for being in charge of the Albania national team between 1982 and 1985, and again between 1988 and 1989. He has also managed Albania U21,

17 Nëntori Klubi i Futbollit Tirana (KF Tirana) is an Albanian football club based in the country's capital city, Tirana. The men's football club is part of the multi-disciplinary sports club SK Tirana, and is the most successful in Albania, having won 54 ...

Teuta Durrës Teuta ( Illyrian: *''Teutana'', 'mistress of the people, queen'; grc, Τεύτα; lat, Teuta) was the queen regent of the Ardiaei tribe in Illyria, who reigned approximately from 231 BC to 228/227 BC. Following the death of her spouse Agro ...

and

Shkumbini Peqin KF Shkumbini is an Albanian football club based in the city of Peqin. The club's home ground is the Shkumbini Stadium and they compete in the Kategoria e Dytë. History Football was first introduced to the city of Peqin in the early 1920s after ...

Playing career

Club

A relatively successful forward for

, Puna Tirana, and

in the 1950s, he won four league titles with Dinamo Tirana.

International

He made his debut for

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

in a September 1957

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

away against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, his sole international game

Managerial career

Rreli peaked as a coach of

Albania national under-21 football team The Albania national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Albania and is controlled by the Football Association of Albania. The team competes in the European Under-21 Football Championship, which is held every two ye ...

, which he led to two straight titles of the

Balkan Youth Championship Balkan Youth Championship was a competition held in the 1968-1981 period among youth team of Balkan countries: from 1968 to 1975 it was disputed among Under-23 teams, whereas, starting from 1976 until 1981, it was disputed among Under-21 footba ...

(in 1978 and 1981) and to the quarter finals of the Euro 1984, where Albania U21 was among the best 8 European teams. As a coach, he won two straight Albania's titles in 1987-88 and 1988-89 with

. He led Tirana to the best 16 in three European competitions (

1986–87 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1986–87 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup was won by Ajax in the final against Lokomotive Leipzig. The young Ajax side, which included the likes of Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Dennis Bergkamp, was guided to victory by its coac ...

1988–89 European Cup The 1988–89 European Cup was the 34th season of the European Cup football club tournament. The competition was won for the first time since 1969, and third time overall, by Milan comfortably in the final against former winners Steaua Bucureșt ...

, and

1989–90 European Cup The 1989–90 European Cup was the 35th edition of Europe's premier club football tournament, the European Cup. The final was played at the Praterstadion in Vienna on 23 May 1990. The final was contested by Italian defending champions Milan and ...

). As Albania national football team coach he will be remembered for getting Albania close to qualifying in the

Mexico 1986 The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had ...

campaign, most notably through a victory against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and draws against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Personal life

He was the father in law of

Mirel Josa Mirel Josa (born 1 June 1963) is an Albanian former football player and current coach of Vllaznia in the Kategoria Superiore. As a player, he played in the Greek Alpha Ethniki for Nea Kavala and Aris, as well as making 27 international appearan ...

, another footballer and coach who married Rreli's daughter Brunilda.

Honours

; as a player *

Albanian Superliga The Kategoria Superiore, officially known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons, is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Albanian football league system, it is the country's primary football compet ...

: 4 ::

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

Albanian Cup The Albanian Cup ( sq, Kupa e Shqipërisë) is the main "knockout" competition in Albanian football. The competition started in 1939 as Kupa e Mbretit (English:"The King's Cup"). Just after a year the cup was suspended as the Second World War st ...

: 3 ::

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

Shyqyri Rreli: Ëndrra shqiptare, “Meksika-86″… sa pranë!
- Telegraf ; as manager *

: 2 ::

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

For his achievements Rreli was awarded in 2007 the ''Mjeshter i Madh'' civil medal by then president of Albania

Bamir Topi Bamir Myrteza Topi (; born 24 April 1957)CV at Albanian presidency website
. i ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rreli, Shyqyri 1930 births 2019 deaths Footballers from Tirana Albanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Albania men's international footballers KF Erzeni players KF Tirana players FC Dinamo City players Albanian football managers Albania national football team managers KF Tirana managers KF Teuta Durrës managers Shkumbini Peqin managers